


Smart People On Ice

by Brumeier



Category: Real Genius (1985), Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: mcsheplets, Friends to Lovers, Hangover, M/M, Post-Canon, School Reunion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 12:44:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9324149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: Accepting the invitation to Pacific Tech's Centennial Celebration was the last thing Rodney wanted to do. On the other hand, Chris Knight's usual brand of intrusive mayhem worked very well in Rodney's favor.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My first fill for the [McSheplets community](http://mcsheplets.livejournal.com/522914.html), filling prompt #245: Invitation.

The thing about mail delivery on Atlantis was that a lot of the excitement went out of it when it came once a week instead of once every month or so. Just another tick mark in the ‘Atlantis on Earth sucks’ column, which was already pretty full. Three months was too long to be away from home, at least as far as Rodney was concerned. 

“Got your mail,” Sheppard said, strolling into Rodney’s lab with a handful of envelopes.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than play mailman?” Not that Rodney minded, not really. He and Sheppard didn’t hang out as much these days, what with Sheppard being constantly called out for meetings and SGC fundraisers and training.

“Nope.” Sheppard leaned against Rodney’s desk and flipped through his mail. “Something from Madison, judging by the glitter. Hey! You could be saving money on your car insurance right now!”

“Give me that!” Rodney snatched all but one of the envelopes, because Sheppard was holding the biggest one out of reach. It was cream colored and the paper looked heavier than a normal envelope.

“What’s this? Wedding invite?”

“Whatever it is, it’s mine. Hand it over.”

Sheppard tapped it against his chin. “Maybe you’ve been invited back to the White House, even though you made the president’s kids cry.”

Rodney flushed. “It wasn’t on purpose. Give it!”

“Fine.” Sheppard handed it over. “Open it up. I wanna see what it is.”

“Isn’t there an IOA meeting you should be suffering through?” Even as he griped Rodney opened the envelope. He pulled out the card inside and then hastily tried to shove it back in when he saw what it was. He wasn’t quick enough and Sheppard deftly plucked it out of his hands.

“’As a valued alumni, you are cordially invited to the Centennial Celebration for the Pacific Technical Institute.’ You went to Pacific Tech?” Sheppard gave Rodney a wide-eyed look. “ _The_ Pacific Tech?”

“No. The other one.” Rodney grabbed the invitation back and tossed it in the garbage.

“Aw, come on, Rodney. Don’t you want to go?”

“Why would I want to do that?”

Sheppard shrugged. “Fond memories of your college years? Besides, it’s Pacific Tech. That school is legendary, McKay.”

Rodney narrowly resisted the urge to bang his head on the desk. That stupid movie had almost ruined PTI’s reputation as a serious school, something Chris Knight hadn’t given a crap about. Rodney happily displayed his other degrees, boasted about his scholarly success, but he never brought up undergrad. It was humiliating.

He would vehemently deny, to his dying day, that he ever took part in the shenanigans that happened during Chris’ senior year: ice skating in the hall, sneaking into the pool party with the beautician school girls, seeing the very public destruction of Professor Hathaway’s house. (He’d made sure to stay off camera. Having fun was all well and good for Chris Knight, but Rodney’d had a serious future to plan for.)

“You should go. Especially since we’re in the neighborhood and everything.”

“We are _not_ in the neighborhood.”

Sheppard looked up, brow furrowed, which Rodney knew meant that he was doing some quick calculations in his head. “It’s a little over a six hour drive from San Francisco. Less if we take a ‘jumper.”

“What’s this ‘we’?” Rodney poked Sheppard in the shoulder. “You do know that Knight isn’t a student there anymore, right? And that Pacific Tech is a well-respected school, one of the top five in the country? It’s Centennial weekend, there aren’t going to be any pranks or laser light shows.”

“Come on. I’ve barely seen you the last few weeks. It’ll be fun!”

Rodney could hardly argue that point, since he’d been thinking the same thing himself. He wondered if it would be weird, taking his best friend to his old stomping grounds. He tried to imagine taking Jennifer there but he just couldn’t do it. She was far too refined and sweet for the guys he used to hang around with; for him too, which was probably why they weren’t dating anymore. Sheppard, on the other hand…

“You’re gonna keep bugging me about this, aren’t you?” he asked, resigned. 

Sheppard grinned. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He moved behind Rodney and grabbed the invitation out of the garbage. “I’ll file the request for leave.”

Rodney snorted. “You mean you’ll have Lorne do it.”

“Same difference.” Sheppard paused in the doorway. “Looks like we’re taking a road trip, buddy. Make sure you pack the protein bars!”

“Idiot,” Rodney grumbled. Still, a whole weekend with Sheppard was nothing to be sneezed at. Hopefully he wouldn’t embarrass himself.

*o*o*o*

Rodney’s head was pounding, and his mouth tasted like the bottom of a Wraith boot. He groaned, rolled over, and fell out of bed with a bone-jarring thud.

“Son of a bitch!”

He pushed himself up on his hands and knees. How the hell much had he had to drink? And where the hell was he?

It took some doing, but Rodney eventually got himself on his feet. He was in a dorm room. No wonder he fell out of bed. He didn’t know whose it was, but he sure knew the guy passed out in the other bed. The guy wearing a blue sundress.

“Sheppard?”

The Colonel was sprawled out on his back, his mouth open. The dress was rucked up enough to show black boxer briefs. Rodney didn’t know why Sheppard was wearing a dress, but he wasn’t so hungover that he didn’t feel a stir of interest at the contrast between hairy legs and powder blue dress.

“Hey! Sheppard!” Rodney stumbled across the room and shook one of Sheppard’s shoulders.

In retrospect, he should’ve known that would be a bad idea.

Sheppard came awake instantly, and knocked Rodney back to the floor, this time on his ass.

“Ow!”

“McKay?”

“Who the hell else would it be?” Rodney snapped. 

John gave him a hand up, then looked down at himself. “Why am I wearing a dress?”

“The better question is how much did we have to drink last night?”

“No, the better question is who wrote ‘genuis’ across your forehead with a black marker.”

Rodney looked around in a panic, and saw there was a mirror mounted on the closet door. It was worse than he thought. The word was written in big block letters right across his forehead, and there was an arrow pointing down along the bridge of his nose. His shirt was inside out, his jeans on backwards.

“I can never leave this room,” he said woefully.

There was a knock at the door. The closet door. Sheppard looked alarmed but Rodney just pulled it open.

“Morning!” Mitch Taylor came striding out of the closet. He looked as goofy as he had back when he first came to Pacific Tech back in the day; he was still tucking in his polo shirts.

“You look way too perky.” Rodney closed the door and leaned back against the mirror.

“Morning after pill,” Mitch said, and then blushed. “Well, not the one you’re thinking of. Here. They’re perfectly safe, all natural.”

He handed Rodney and Sheppard a small, round blue pill each.

“Who made these?” Rodney asked.

“Sandra in the chem lab.”

Rodney shrugged and dry-swallowed the pill. Sheppard was more hesitant but he eventually did the same. Sandra in the chem lab knew her business: five minute later Rodney’s head cleared and he felt a hundred times better.

“Chris is hosting a breakfast, he wanted me to invite you guys.”

“In the steam tunnels?”

“Just like old times.” Mitch grinned. 

“I don’t suppose you know where I can find some pants?” Sheppard asked.

“Ask Roddy. He’s the one that took them.”

Just like that, it all came flooding back to Rodney. The sedate – and frankly boring – reception being crashed by Chris Knight, who turned it into a rave complete with bubbles and laser lights and plenty of booze and Ick’s oversized, genetically engineered fruit.

Rodney drank too much, because Chris had called him by his old nickname – Rowdy Roddy – and Sheppard had laughed, and it had been incredibly embarrassing. And the drinks just kept coming, his glass was always full, and he moved from embarrassed to uninhibited.

Much, much too uninhibited.

Rodney looked at Sheppard, his skin flushing hot. He hadn’t taken the man’s pants, like Mitch said, but he had instigated things. Dared Sheppard to strip down to his underwear and then made out with him right in front of everyone at the party. Although the way he remembered things, Sheppard had been a pretty willing participant.

Sheppard stared back at Rodney with an expression that said he remembered the events of the evening as well.

“I didn’t see that coming,” he said.

“You never do,” Rodney muttered in reply.

“Everything okay?” Mitch asked. He looked between the two of them. “Should I go? I should go. You know what? I’m gonna go.”

He ducked back into the closet and closed the door.

“Do I want to know?” Sheppard asked.

“Probably not.” Rodney said.

“Was it just the alcohol?”

“Probably not,” Rodney repeated.

“Probably, or definitely?”

“Which one doesn’t get me punched?”

Sheppard sidled closer, and one the little straps on the dress slid down his shoulder. “Wrong question.”

The words on Rodney’s head weren’t just there for comic relief. He really was a genius.

“Definitely not just the alcohol,” he said right before John moved in and kissed him.

They missed the breakfast in the steam tunnels, but all things being equal Rodney was very glad they’d accepted that invitation.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** I should’ve titled this one “Random Thoughts While Showering.” LOL! If you haven’t ever seen the movie Real Genius (with Val Kilmer before he got so serious) then this probably won’t make a lot of sense. If you have seen it, hopefully you find it as amusing as I do. ::grins::


End file.
